Reuters Africa Top

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Shell’s plan for seismic testing on South Africa’s Wild Coast, which critics say threatens dolphins, seals, whales, penguins and other rare sea life, received all necessary environmental approvals, the country’s energy minister said in a letter to parliament. In a written reply to questions that was released by parliament late on Wednesday, …

Shell seismic tests approval complied with rules, S.Africa minister says Read More »

DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegal has authorized COVID-19 vaccines for children over 12 and booster shots for adults, the health ministry said on Thursday, as vaccine hesitancy complicates its fight against rising infections from the Omicron variant. The booster dose will initially be aimed at people identified as vulnerable to severe illness, the health ministry said …

Senegal authorizes COVID-19 booster shots, vaccines for children Read More »

By Nneka Chile LAGOS (Reuters) – Startups in Nigeria are helping fight counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs in Africa’s most populous nation, where the prevalence rate of fake drugs is higher than the global average 10% and contributes to several deaths annually. The most counterfeited are drugs for anti-malaria, pain and antibiotics, according to the National Agency …

Nigerian startups help fight scourge of fake medicines Read More »

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A South African pulmonologist said on Thursday that she was still seeing serious COVID-19 disease in people who are unvaccinated or have comorbidities during an infection wave driven by the Omicron variant. “We are still seeing very serious infections and admissions in patients who are unvaccinated and also in patients who have …

S.Africa still seeing serious COVID-19 in unvaccinated, vulnerable during Omicron wave Read More »

By Loucoumane Coulibaly ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Ivory Coast soccer fans watching the Africa Cup of Nations are being greeted at dedicated fan zones with rapid tests, masks and COVID-19 vaccines, an initiative of the health ministry to spur vaccination. Soccer is the West African country’s favourite sport and thousands of fans have flocked to the …

Ivory Coast uses soccer to spur COVID-19 vaccination Read More »

By Will Dunham (Reuters) – Volcanic ash left over from a huge ancient eruption has helped scientists determine that important early Homo sapiens fossils found in Ethiopia in 1967 are older than previously believed, providing fresh insight into the dawn of our species. Researchers said on Wednesday they used the geochemical fingerprints of a thick …

Older date for Ethiopian fossils sheds light on rise of Homo sapiens Read More »

By Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria will lift a ban on Twitter from midnight after the social media platform agreed to open a local office, among other agreements with authorities in the West African country, a senior government official said on Wednesday. The Nigerian government suspended Twitter on June 4 after it removed a …

Nigeria lifts Twitter ban from midnight, government official says Read More »